Welcome to Save the Wairau River Inc

Image courtesy of Don Binney

The Tarapiroe or rare Black fronted tern is depicted hovering protectively above it's breeding ground on the Wairau River.

Leading New Zealand artist, Don Binney, while painting in Marlborough became concerned about the threat to the river and the river birds which breed and feed there. Don donated the use of his painting to help raise funds to protect the Wairau River.

Save the Wairau River Inc, an incorporated society, was founded to advocate for the long term sustainability of this internationally important Marlborough braided river.

The objects of the society are to be beneficial to the community by:

• Protecting the Wairau as a River of international, regional and local significance;
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• Protecting the natural character, integrity, form, functioning and resilience of the Wairau River system;
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• Protecting the ecosystems of the Wairau River;
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• Protecting the Wairau River as a cultural, educational and recreational resource for the benefit of the community and for future generations.

Save the Wairau River Inc, is a society incorporated in New Zealand with charitable status (No. 1645630). Several organizations and individuals had been concerned for some time by continued water applications to abstract surface water from the Wairau and water from the Wairau Aquifer and the application by Trust Power heightened and focused that concern. Save the Wairau River Inc was launched by this group of Marlborough residents in June 2005. The application by Trust Power was considered to be a major threat to the future of the ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on the river. The newly formed Society could see no alternative but to become involved. To not do so, would have been abrogating responsibility under the Society's own objectives. TrustPower's proposal would divert up to 60% of the rivers flow to a canal to feed six hydroelectric stations.

The group rapidly built up a membership of concerned people, not just in Marlborough and the rest of New Zealand, but also from Australia, North America and Europe. The current Executive Committee of the Society was elected at the Annual General Meeting held in June 2009. The Committee consists of local citizens drawn from a wide range of interests: business, farming, conservation, angling, and medicine.

The following are current members of the executive committee:

Chair	Hugh Steadman		Committee	Robin Blackmore
Deputy Chair	Ron Tannock			Carey Cudby
Secretary	Phyllis Collins			Tim Barnett
Treasurer	Dianne John			Jim Anderson
				Bill Woollcombe
				Steve Young
				Joanna Scott

Department of Conservation
Fish and Game NZ
Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society
Ornithological Society of New Zealand
Marlborough Fresh Water Anglers Club Inc
Nelson Trout Fishing Club
Jet Boaters Assn
Wairau Valley Action Group Inc
Marlborough Environment Centre
Don Binney
Bing Dawe